The object of this invention is to produce power by combining a chemical reactor and a steam or appropriate fluid in order to supply a compressor or power turbine system to generate power and electricity and propulsion independent from air. Another object of this invention is to provide a power generation system which may be constructed either stationary or mobilized, and commercially be available to all industrial and personal applications alternative to either hydrocarbon fuel systems or natural power sources like sun, wind, wave, etc. More specifically, the invention relates to an arrangement as disclosed in the preamble of independent claims 1, 2, 3, 9, and 11. The further object of this invention is to provide alternative power production more specifically on sea, at subsea or arctic regions with almost zero emissions and without air.
There a number of problems arising in exhaust emissions due to need to large container vessels, VLCCs, ultra large bulk cargo ships. As the ships are built in larger sizes the sizes of the diesel engines are increasing. Thus the emissions are increased as the engines are producing higher power. In order to decrease the emissions especially on sea transportation, the most ship designs sacrifices from speed. For lower speeds, the cargo charters or ship operators are looking for shorter routes in order to compensate the disadvantage of the ship designs on speed side. Shorter inter-continent routes are generally located on arctic conditions like North Sea, Bering Passage, and North Atlantic where sea conditions results possible delays or extra wave resistance which reduces the speed of the vessels and increases fuel consumption. On the other hand arctic routes need long distance vessel without being supplied for fuel for a very long time. Several attempts were made to use nuclear powered cargo and utility ships; but nuclear power cannot be commercialized due to security and safety reasons after many learned lessons in the history.
As the fossil fuel resources are getting decreased and dried day by day, alternative energy sources are in development. Due to decreasing availability of resources, more costly routes are in subject for exploration of oil such as deep sea drilling, Greenland ice drilling. For such said operations current fossil fuel engine powered transportation vessels are offering limited and interrupted operation performances due to weather, sea and environmental factors.
Alternative fuel and energy sources are not yet powerful enough for supply large conventional transport and cargo vessels.
Submarines are not capable to travel long distances underwater when not using nuclear power.
Subsea operating vessels such as deep sea drilling, arctic ice drilling are dependent on surface supply vessels or platforms nearby themselves.
Building plants nearby the resources are generally creating extra difficulties like bringing electricity, fuel type power requirements. Environmental regulations near the resources do not enable the plant operations based on fossil fuel or hydrocarbon fuels. So the plants are needed to be located further than the resources.
Fossil fuels or hydrocarbon fuels have exhaust products which none of them or very trace amount them can be reused which effects the efficiency of said type hydrocarbon fuels in a negative way.
Other problem of the fossil fuel or hydrocarbon fuel operated systems are in need of air or oxygen which especially create a detection risk for a submarine with a diesel engine when cruising at snorkel depth or surface speed even at night.
Another problem in a liquid fossil fuel dependent system is to keep the fuels warm or at pumpability temperature (also known as Clog Point or Pour Point) especially in arctic weather conditions.
In chemical plants or in refineries, the excessive heat coming from exothermic reactions is used for heating another production process or steam for power turbines. These systems are dependent and particular only for the systems they have designed.
Another problem is as in prior similar arts have generally single reaction chamber design which is located in or around another process or a heat exchanger. These systems are not being operated or treated in piston type engine system machine mentality.
Another problem in exothermic reactors is the complexity of the injection system of reactants and the removal or by other definition the discharge of reaction products from the chamber. The complexity increases when the injection and especially discharge sequence is put in a sequence like adiabatic engine piston systems.
Another problem in such exothermic reactors is the reactant state. General designs are based on mixture of fluid state reactants which limits the usage of powder or solid state reactants.
Another problem in such exothermic reactors is the flushing of the injectors and chambers has to be done manually or replacing them with new or cleaned ones by stopping the system fully or partially.
Another problem in such exothermic reactors and in other chemical reactors, the design of the injection systems are limiting mixing, dosing and injection actions of different types of chemicals in one system and in various sequences including the catalyzers.
Another problem in such exothermic reactors and in other chemical reactors is the limit on applying different type of chemical reactions in one vessel or heat exchanging system.
Another problem is such exothermic reactors and in other chemical reactors, they all are designed to use one set of chemical reaction process and particular to be used only for a certain part of another chemical process. Example of such exothermic reaction applications take place in petrochemical refineries, oil refineries and some chemicals production facilities.
To reduce or eliminate aforementioned disadvantages and problems, there is provided, according to the present invention, an arrangement as disclosed in the characterizing clause of claims 1, 2, and 9.
Advantageous embodiments of the invention are set forth in the dependent claims.